Distributing carrier for mail and the like



T. W. SAVAGE Filed Feb. 13, 1935 June 9, 1936.

DISTRIBUTING CARRIER FOR MAIL AND THE LIKE Patented June 9, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE .DISTRIBUTING CARRIER FoRl MAIL AND THE LIKE Thomas W. Savage, Reading, Mass.

applicationFebruary 13, 1935seria1 No. 6,407

2 claims. (01; 31a- 62) My invention is concerned with the carrying suming adjustment, as the bundle becomes deand distributing of postal matter and the like, pletecl,` toprevent the remaining letters from bee such as letters, cards and similar articles, and coming so loose as tosl-ipl from the strap.- more particularly aims to provide a readily trans- My invention `contemplates a device or means 5 portable carrier, rackA or magazine adapted for whereby thebatchof sorted mail matter mayibe' detachable mounting in convenient location, and held and'carri-ed in visible position conveniently especially adapted for userby mail carriers on accessible to the carrier and in suchfashion that rural free delivery routes, mak-ing deliveries arselected piece may readily be withdrawn arid` from an automobile. delivered, by the use of but one `hand by the In the drawing illustrating by way of example carrier. Accordingly the described receptacle, 10 one embodiment of my invention, rack or magazine is provided with means for Fig. 1 is a plan of the receptacle, carrier or detachably supporting it in fixed position' con# magazine, as in use; veniently at hand to the` carrier as he Adrives Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same; automobile. In the form illustrated I provide Fig. 3 is a right end elevation Witha portion one or more Supporting elementsor hangers I0, l5 broken away to illustrate an adjustable supl, two beingl here illustrated. Theseinclude porting means; and hook portion Ill adapted toA be engagedrover' the Fig. 4 is a section on the lined-1i of Fig. 1. top edge of anautomobile door D; or uponthe The device as shown forthe purposes of i1lus` dash` board or other convenient support, and an tration, and hereinafter referred toasa rack, adjustable attaching portion I2 having means 201 carrier or magazine, comprises a main frame, such as the slot I3 for receiving a` bolt |4- on housing or receptacle indicated as a` Whole by the rear Wall of the rack 5. The Supportsv i0 the numeral 5. It is of open-front and epen are4 thus vertically adjustable; toaccommodate top construction, herein including a rear wall o the rack to different door structuresor other and end Walls 'I and 8these walls enclosing `and` Points of iitiahrnoni-V The hook portions Of the 25L supporting a oor. or base 9., sheet, metal or supportsvor hangers Il]` may be rubber covered" other suitablerconstructionsmay bep-employed in fol' protective DUIDOSSS 31S indicated at 'laig; 3e forming the rack. The open compartment de-` 'Ihe rear wall of the rack may also-have oneE or fined by the verticall walls and. thefloor` .Cll isI of more rubber or other buttonsor nubbins I5; Fis-3,V

30. a height and length to accommodate pieces of for contact with the face of the `door or other 3or first class mail matter` ofordinary sizes; up to Support, to aSSS `if! positioning the Took and ten or twelve inches` in length, for example, and preventing marring. has a depth adequate to receive a baten or group It will be `understood that thef batch or collecof such articles. tionof letters-under which term I intend to- 35 The general practice with rural postaliearriersV include any plooi-2S of mailV matter and the like 35' isu to sort and bundle the mail matterintofbun- WfliCh aloto loo` distributed-$13130@ in upfighl dies or packages. averaging some: 40.1;05'0. pieces, position `within-"thecompartment of therrack er depending` on their thickness,making upa bundle magazine, faoing outwardly ,toward the 010611 some twoy to three inches thick or thereabouts,V fr0-nt.- Flufther in accordance With the invene' 40` the` pieces being. held together by asurreunding tion, means, preferably automatic or se1fadjust 4.0Q leather or other strap. The individual `pieces are irlgfiS-IJlfOK/'Iidoflfol4l retaining the lotiersinfoalfyf arranged in order for delivery along the parina posi-tion, and in Such fashionthatthe face ticular route. Theseibundles are generally placed of the outer piecervor letter isnotobscuredtofany on the seat of the automobile beside the carrier, objectionable extent but is left fully visible, with who usually must also act as the driver 0f the any legends such as names and addresses in full 45 car. In making a delivery stop it is thus neces- View. At the same time the letters are so- D0- sary for the carrier to take both hands from Sitioned and presented that the outer one or any the steering Wheel, and to grasp the strapped selected letter or plurality Of them may be quickly bundle of letters or mail pieces with one hand picked from the batch and withdrawn, by the While withdrawing with the other hand the paruse of but a single hand. 50 ticular piece or pieces of mail for deposit in the Herein for the purpose have illustrated aholdrural delivery box at' the given address. The ing or clamping device operatively located within strap enclosing the bundle when tight enough the compartment. Referring to Figs. 1, 2, and 4, to hold the letters, interferes with their quick it is Shown as including a swinging arm I6 of open Withdrawal. It also requires frequent time-con- Construction, haViIlg upper and lower horizontal 65 the walls, herein the end wall 1.

iof sheet metal or other suitable material.

parts I'I and an upright connecting part I8, formed of wire or other suitable material. As shown, one of the horizontal parts, herein the lower one, is extended at right angles vertically to provide a pivot I 9 for the arm, the upper end of the pivot being received in an eye or like formation 20 in the upper part II. The pivot I9 extends through suitable bearings or apertures in the spaced ears 2|, 2I of a bracket 22 at the inner face of one of A coil spring 23 surrounds the pivot I9, one end of the spring being held as at 24 and the other end being extended as at 25 across one of the horizontal parts I'I of the arm, urging the latter inwardly, toward the back of the compartment.

This swinging clamp arm appears in full lines in Fig. 1 in its rearmost position, as when the rack is empty, and in dotted lines in an intermediate position, as when holding a batch of letters, the latter being indicated in broken lines at L.

As deliveries are made from the batch of letters the angular relation between the arm I6 and the face of the outer letter varies. In order that the letters may be securely held irrespective of their number, within the to-tal capacity of the rack, I preferably provide a self-adjusting engaging element, foot or clamp proper indicated as a whole by the numeral 26. As shown, this element comprises an open frame, affording the maximum of visibility to the face of the engaged letters. This frame or presser foot 25 may conveniently be fashioned of wire bent to form a ilat engaging element such as illustrated by way of example, and herein including top and bottom portions 26a, side members 2Gb and upper and lower substantially centrally disposed loops or eyes 21 pivotally received upon the upright or connecting part I8 of the pivoted arm I6. The horizontal parts II of the latter serve to position the foot 26 vertically.

Thus the engaging foot is adapted to swivel or turn with respect to the spring-pressed arm I6, automatically, so that it may remain always in parallelism with itself and in complete atwise engagement with the face of the then outermost letter, whether the compartment or magazine of the rack be completely iilled or in various stages of its depletion, even down to a single remaining article. It will also be seen that in the illustrated arrangement the holding means at all times leaves substantially the entire right half of the compartment entirely free for 'access to the letters, so that the selected one or plurality may be readily engaged or withdrawn through the open top and front of the rack, while due to the open structure of the engaging element or foot 26 and of its supporting arm I6 substantially the entire face of an outer letter is freely visible at all times.

The main frame or housing of the carrier or rack may be integrally or otherwise constructed The device as a unitary whole desirably alsoV presents means for conveniently storing and carrying stamps, cards, stamped envelopes, cash, or other articles likely to be required by a rural carrier in the course of his duties, or by any user of the device. To this end the vertical walls of the letter compartment are extended downwardly, as seen in Figs. 2 to 4 and are inturned as at 28, 28 to form supports and guides for a drawer 29, for which the floor 9 of the letter compartment provides a cover. Suitable means desirably is provided for operating the drawer and herein for holding it in closed position. As illustrated, this means comprises a knob 30 on a stud 3l extending rotatably through the front wall of the drawer 29, and through a spacing washer 3I. An eccentric or linger 32 is fixed at the inner end of the stud 3|, in position to be engaged behind a stop 33 depending from the floor 9. By turning the knob 30, to engage or disengage the eccentric 32 with respect to the stop, the drawer may readily be locked or released.

My invention is not limited to the particular illustrative embodiment herein shown and described, its scope being set forth in the appended Claims.

I claim:

1. A mail rack particularly for use by rural carriers in transporting and delivering mail along their routes, said rack comprising a single compact main receptacle of a size adapted to the convenient reception and positioning of a batch of pieces of mail such as customarily strapped up in a single bundle by such rural carriers, said receptacle having integral sheet-metal vertical side and rear walls of a height not substantially exceeding that of the mail pieces and being wholly and permanently open at the front and top, a horizontal flat and unobstructed sheet-metal bottom wall carried by said vertical walls, a vertically disposed presser member swiveled for self-paralleling flatwise clamping contact against the upright forwardly facing addressed face of the outer piece of mail irrespective of the distance of the latter from the rear wall of the receptacle, a swinging arm pivotally supported on a wall of the receptacle and carrying said swiveled presser member, spring means urging said arm and presser member inwardly, said presser member and its supporting means being of such open structure as to leave the vertical front face of the engaged mail piece substantially unobscured and cooperating with the vertical Walls of the receptacle to present the letters for successive withdrawal in an upward and forward direction, and attaching means for readily detachably supporting said mail rack as a Whole in convenient fixed position upon the letter carriers vehicle.

2. A mail rack in accordance with claim 1, wherein the vertical sheet-metal walls of the main receptacle are integrally continued downwardly below the bottom wall and are horizontally inturned at their bottom edges to form a one-piece supporting and guiding means for a drawer.

THOMAS W. SAVAGE. 

